CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced Wednesday, on the eve of the 2017 MAC Volleyball Championship, the All-MAC First Team and Honorable Mention team, along with the individual awards for Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Setter of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. The student-athletes receiving the honors were voted on by the league’s twelve head coaches.
For only the second time in conference history, MAC Player of the Year honors are split. Bowling Green’s Kallie Seimet and Miami’s Olivia Rusek were selected as the league’s top performers for the 2017 season. Seimet and Rusek each led their teams to a share of both the MAC East Division title and MAC Regular Season crown.
Rusek becomes the 5th RedHawk to receive this honor. The senior was also named to the All-MAC First Team. A native of Skokie, Illinois, Rusek started all 16 matches. She registered a team-leading 185 kills through the regular season. As a six-rotation player, she recorded double-digit kills in 10 matches and 165 total digs.
Seimet also picked-up a spot on the First Team All-MAC squad and was named the 2017 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. The Oregon, Ohio native was named MAC West Player of the Week seven times throughout the 2017 season. She has registered nine 30+ digs performances and set the BG record for most digs in a match (45 at Miami 9/21). With a 6.78 digs per set average, she continues to lead the nation in all of Division I women's volleyball. She also ranks first in the nation in total digs, with 725 on the year.
Ohio freshman Vera Giacomazzi was named Setter of the Year. The San Vendemiano, Italy native has 1,204 assists on the year, the 10th most across NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball. Giacomazzi is the second Bobcat to receive the honor, joining Abby Gilleland (2013 & 2014) in the record book.
Tia Jimerson picked up a second honor for the Bobcats with being voted MAC Freshman of the Year. The 6-3, Georgia native has 386 kills on the season with a hitting percent of .362. She is the fourth Ohio student-athlete tabbed with this title.
The All-MAC First Team consists of 14 members from nine of the twelve MAC institutions. Seimet is joined by the Ohio trio of Giacomazzi, Jimerson and Lizzie Stephens. Rusek is joined by Miami teammates Maeve McDonald and Katie Tomasic. Northern Illinois’ received a pair of honorees on the team with the selection of Kaylee Martin and Meg Wolowicz. Ball State’s Brooklyn Goodsel, Buffalo’s Cassie Shado, Central Michigan’s Jordan Bueter, Kent State’s Kelsey Bittinger and Western Michigan’s Sydney LeMay round out the 2017 team.
The six-person All-MAC Honorable Mention Team consists of Ball State teammates Ellie Dunn and Amber Seaman, Bowling Green’s Isabelle Marciniak and Nicole Slimko, Kelly Ferguson of Eastern Michigan and Toledo’s Annie Beasley.
Katie Kidwell of Bowling Green, Andrea Mitrovic of Buffalo and Rachel Bontrager of Western Michigan join NIU’s Martin and Ohio’s Jimerson and Giacomazzi on the 2017 MAC All-Freshman Team.
The 2017 MAC Volleyball Coach of the Year will be announced the week following the conclusion of the conference tournament.
The first round of the 2017 MAC Volleyball tournament begins Thursday, November 16th on the campus of Miami University. The championship game is slated for Sunday night at 4:30 pm EST and will be broadcast on ESPN3. Ticket information and complete tournament details can be found on the Volleyball Championship
page.
2017 MAC Volleyball Co-Players of the Year
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green, Libero
Olivia Rusek, Miami, Outside Hitter
2017 MAC Volleyball Setter of the Year
Vera Giacomazzi, Ohio
2017 MAC Volleyball Freshman of the Year
Tia Jimerson, Ohio, MB
2017 MAC Defensive Player of the Year
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green, Libero
2017 MAC Volleyball All-MAC First Team (14 Members)
Brooklyn Goodsel, Ball State, OH
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green, L
Cassie Shado, Buffalo, MB
Jordan Bueter, Central Michigan, OH
Kelsey Bittinger, Kent State, OH
Maeve McDonald, Miami, L
Olivia Rusek, Miami, OH
Katie Tomasic, Miami, RH
Kaylee Martin, Northern Illinois, OH
Meg Wolowicz, Northern Illinois, MB
Vera Giacomazzi, Ohio, S
Tia Jimerson, Ohio, MB
Lizzie Stephens, Ohio, OH
Sydney LeMay, Western Michigan, MB
2017 MAC Volleyball All-MAC Honorable Mention (6 Members)
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, OH
Amber Seaman, Ball State, S
Isabelle Marciniak, Bowling Green, S
Nicole Slimko, Bowling Green, OH
Kelly Ferguson, Eastern Michigan, MB
Annie Beasley, Toledo, MH/OH
2017 MAC Volleyball All-Freshman Team (6 Members)
Katie Kidwell, Bowling Green, MB
Andrea Mitrovic, Buffalo, OH
Kaylee Martin, Northern Illinois, OH
Tia Jimerson, Ohio, MB
Vera Giacomazzi, Ohio, S
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, OH
